Lord Rooker: Work conducted by the Institute for Animal Health and funded by Defra was recently published in the Veterinary Record (2006) 159, 373-378. It compared original laboratory results of virological samples collected from confirmed cases of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the UK in 2001 with results obtained by retrospective analysis using real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The analysis included samples taken from sheep and other livestock, and demonstrated that the PCR technique could provide reliable results more quickly than previously used conventional tests.
	In 23 per cent (390 of 1730) of infected premises from which samples were received, no evidence of FMD virus, antibody or nucleic acid was found. This suggests that the incidence of FMD during the outbreak may have been over-reported. The proportion of test negative cases rises to 38 per cent for premises where only sheep were investigated, confirming the difficulty of diagnosing FMD in this species. A copy of this paper will be placed in the Library of the House.
	Based on the original laboratory results, similar conclusions regarding the proportion of animals that could be confirmed as infected by laboratory tests, including considerable differences between these proportions across disease control centres, was previously reported in paragraphs 3.73 to 3.77 of the National Audit Office report, The 2001 Outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (HC 939 2001-2002, ISBN: 0102916454). This report was published on 21 June 2002 and is available from the National Audit Office website: www.nao.org.uk/publications/nao_reports/chronindex.asp?type=vfm.